Despite increased restrictions following Sept. 11, international student applications have increased by approximately 10 percent for the UW-Madison graduate school and approximately 8 percent for the undergraduate college.
Casey Siske, a student status examiner for UW-Madison graduate admissions, said that with an economic downturn, such as the one experienced by the United States last year, there is usually an increase in graduate school applications. However, admissions officials, after Sept. 11, expected the numbers to be lower for international students next semester.
\All indications should be just the opposite,"" Siske said of the increase.
Indications that would make for a decrease in international student enrollment likely include recent actions taken to tighten controls on the students. For example, there has been discussion by the Bush administration recently concerning the possibility of limiting what majors international students can declare. The Immigration and Naturalization Services also changed the logistics of student visas April 8, requiring students to obtain visas prior to enrollment at American universities. Previously, as long as students had applied for a visa, they were allowed to enroll.
Government officials are also urging action on the creation of an electronic database to house international student information, which was proposed in the early 1990s but has not yet materialized due to budget constraints.
Some schools, including the University of Illinois, have announced that international students will pay additional fees to compensate for the costs of the data base and other additional restrictions.
UW-Madison has not announced any such action, and is not planning to implement additional fees for the fall semester, Siske said.
The INS is considering requiring all international students to pay an additional $100 fee to offset the costs of the database, Siske said. The predicted cost of the data base is $40 million.
Currently, international students are required by federal legislation to give proof of their ability to pay tuition before admittance, said Judy Brodd, associate director of the UW-Madison Office of International Student Services.
After demonstrating sufficient funding, Brodd said, international students are given an eligibility document, called an I-20.
Jane Shepard, international undergraduate admissions coordinator, said she could not speculate as to why applications had increased.
""We're very pleased the numbers are so strong,"" Shepard said.
The increased numbers of applications will not necessarily translate into higher admittance and enrollment numbers, especially at the graduate school level, Siske said.
Many international graduate students, he said, apply for departmental assistantships. Each department has a level of funding, which may be lower next semester, and decides how many assistantships to offer based on that.
